Foster: Harbor Commission head didn't 'harmonize'

The City Council will determine Thomas Fields’s future, if any, on the Harbor Commission. At the same time they’ll measure Mayor Bob Foster’s political clout as his tenure sunsets in July and city elections approach.

“This is not a vote that is good for the city or the port. It’s divisive,” Fields said of the council’s upcoming decision in a recent interview.

The two men, one the city’s top elected official, the other, his appointee in charge of Long Beach’s most important commission, have been at odds for years. Now, Foster has had enough and wants Fields gone. He put an item on Tuesday’s council agenda that will effectively fire Fields, if approved.

“I’m going to be mayor to the last day I’m here. I don’t believe in walking away from problems,” Foster told the Register’s editorial board last week.

Until recently Foster has been silent about why he wants Fields gone. As John McLaurin, the president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association put it in a letter to council members, the mayor “has not disclosed any facts with regard to potential illegal activity or malfeasance on the part of Mr. Fields – an individual who is widely respected by the international trade community.”

Foster hasn’t alleged any illegal activity or any sort of missteps that are directly harming the Port of Long Beach. As Fields is quick to point out, the port is busier than ever and figures released this week show that cargo was up 8.7 percent in October over the year before.

But Foster said that there was discord between himself and his appointee. They just couldn’t sync-up when it came to policy.

“There have been several instances over the past couple of years in which I’ve attempted to work with Mr. Fields on those issues,” Foster said. “They range form security to travel. Different from other commissioners, when I counsel them about either their conduct or trying to harmonize with the community interests, those other commissioners have been responsive. Mr. Fields has been dismissive. I’ve tolerated it for quite a while, and then the travel issue came up.”

For security, Foster wanted more city police at the port. Fields wanted to keep some private security there because he thought they could work better with tenants. Today there’s a compromise – a Coast Guard-approved blend of both private and public security.

On the travel expenses, Foster said he wants Fields to curb his trips because he spends much more than other commissioners, creating “the perception that this is an abuse of the privilege” and should spend his time making sure shipping containers are moved through the port quickly and cheaply. Fields, meanwhile, says he’s drumming up business and is doing nothing wrong.

The two have never been on the same side of the debate on where the port should build a new headquarters to replace its aging offices on the waterfront.

Foster said there’s not much he can do if the council decides to keep Fields.

“Go forward,” Foster said. “Do our business.”

The mayor needs six votes to fire him, but so far it appears he has two lined up. Fields says he has the support of at least three, so he just needs one more to block the mayor and to keep his job. If he makes it, it could tee up another clash over the port headquarters.

Ultimately, Foster has said he wants to rebuild the Civic Center downtown and possibly include a new port headquarters.

Fields, however, doesn’t know if this would be a good idea. He said he hasn’t considered it too much since he’s been busy trying to keep his job, but any sort of headquarters must make good financial sense. Right now he doesn’t know how much it would cost to put the headquarters in the Civic Center and it may be tough to take on another costly project since the port already has over $4 billion in construction costs over the next decade, he said.

“With the kind of money we are expending on infrastructure, I don’t know if we can take another burden on,” Fields said.